CARINA team is excited to announce the release of a Policy Brief document that highlightes the important role of Carinata and Camelina crops in addressing environmental challenges and enhancing agricultural sustainability. This document aims to:

Present Discoveries

Conduct Policy Analysis

Offer Solutions

Influence Policy-making

Facilitate Discussion and Debate

Advocate for Change

Provide Clear Recommendations

CARINA project partners have identified key policy requirements essential for the adoption of innovative feedstocks like Carinata and Camelina. The Policy Brief outlines several barriers that need to be addressed, such as:

Lack of competitiveness due to environmental externalities

Lack of knowledge and technologies

Need for RED support and R&D promotion

Insufficient experiences and information in the agriculture sector

Lack of consumer information

Legal, social, and cultural barriers

Property rights barriers

Each of these barriers is analyzed in detail in the Policy Brief, with specific policy suggestions for overcoming them presented in Annex 1.

CARINA team emphasizes the necessity of transformative policies to integrate Carinata and Camelina into current farming systems, ultimately promoting a more resilient agricultural future. The Policy Brief will undergo systematic updates and refinements throughout the duration of the CARINA project to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.

For a comprehensive understanding of the policy requirements and recommendations, you can access the full version of the Policy Brief document here.

By addressing these critical barriers, CARINA project aims to foster the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, leveraging the potential of Carinata and Camelina crops to mitigate environmental impacts and enhance the resilience of farming systems.
The event, hosted at CCE’s innovation center in Daimiel (CID), attracted a diverse group of participants, including 10 farmers, 2 representatives from the cooperative Los Pozos, and 6 individuals from Camelina Company. With a total of 19 attendees, including 2 women, the event fostered fruitful discussions and knowledge exchange.

In collaboration with the EU projects UNTWIST and 4CE-MED, this initiative highlighted the commitment of CCE and CACLM to agricultural innovation and sustainability. Through workshops and field visits, participants gained valuable insights into the latest developments in the agricultural sector, furthering the mission of promoting sustainable practices and driving innovation in agriculture.

On April 11th, a collaborative effort between Camelina Company España (CCE) and Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias Castilla – La Mancha (CACLM) led to the successful execution of the 2nd Lighthouse event in Spain. Held in Daimiel, within the Castilla-La Mancha Region, this event aimed to provide valuable insights through workshops and field visits.

The event, hosted at CCE’s innovation center in Daimiel (CID), attracted a diverse group of participants, including 10 farmers, 2 representatives from the cooperative Los Pozos, and 6 individuals from Camelina Company. With a total of 19 attendees, including 2 women, the event fostered fruitful discussions and knowledge exchange.

In collaboration with the EU projects UNTWIST and 4CE-MED, this initiative highlighted the commitment of CCE and CACLM to agricultural innovation and sustainability. Through workshops and field visits, participants gained valuable insights into the latest developments in the agricultural sector, furthering the mission of promoting sustainable practices and driving innovation in agriculture.

Cooperativas Agro-Alimentarias de Andalucía recently hosted a dynamic technical conference on arable crops, providing an opportunity for the Carina project to engage with stakeholders and disseminate valuable insights. Held on April 11th in Huelva and April 12th in Seville, this two-day event offered a comprehensive platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration within the agricultural community.

One of the key highlights of the conference was the active participation of farmers—the primary audience of the event. Recognizing the importance of showcasing the relevance and impact of the Carina project, organizers utilized project brochures to provide attendees with valuable information. This initiative aimed to enhance awareness and understanding of Carina’s objectives, fostering a deeper appreciation for its role in driving innovation and sustainability within the agricultural sector.

Organized at the regional level in Andalusia, the conference addressed a diverse range of topics related to arable crop cultivation. From discussions on diseases affecting crops to insights into the evolving landscape of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), attendees gained valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry. Additionally, the conference provided a platform to explore the international evolution of arable crops in the market, offering attendees a broader perspective on global agricultural trends.

A highlight of the event was the field visit scheduled for April 11th, allowing attendees to witness firsthand the practical implications of ongoing trials and innovations in arable crop cultivation. This experience provided a connection between theoretical concepts discussed during the conference sessions and real-world applications in agricultural practices.

The ICARDA’s CARINA team recently took part in the second edition of the Maghreb Oilseeds Meetings (RMO) on March 5 and 6 in Rabat, Morocco. Organized by the Interprofessional Federation of Oilseeds (FOLEA), along with the French Association for the International Development of Vegetable Oils and Proteins (Agropol), Lesieur Cristal, and various other organizations, the event provided a vital platform for addressing the challenges facing the agricultural sector amidst climate change and exploring the opportunities presented by oilseed crops.

Delegates from France, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, representing key stakeholders in the oilseed sectors such as farmers, farmer organizations, oil-producing companies, research and extension organizations, banks, and industry representatives, participated in the event. It served as a unique forum for sharing expertise, experiences, and forging strategic alliances and innovative collaborations.

The event was characterized by engaging debates, informative sessions, field visits, workshops, and seminars led by renowned experts in the field. Key themes included “Oilseeds, levers of resilience of production systems in the face of climate change?” and “Farmers, industrialists, and breeders: how to work in a sector to cope with an uncertain environment?”

During the discussions, ICARDA’s team highlighted the importance of ancient oilseed crops like Camelina in adapting to climate change and promoting crop rotation in cereal-based cropping systems, particularly in marginal areas. A round table explored the role of oilseed sectors in resilience to climate change and food sovereignty issues in the Maghreb.

As part of the meeting, a field visit to rapeseed fields was organized in the Meknes area on March 5, 2024, to showcase the significance of oil crops in crop rotation and share oilseed producers’ experiences in Morocco with the delegates.

On the 14th and 15th of March, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía participated at the Smart Agrifood Summit 2024 (https://www.smartagrifoodsummit.com/). This international event, renowned for its focus on innovation, training, and entrepreneurship in the agrifood sector, provided an ideal platform to showcase the CARINA project as part of our dissemination efforts.

While this year’s event may have had less impact compared to previous editions, we were pleased to observe a genuine interest from some of the attendees in the CARINA project. One noteworthy interaction was the establishment of contact with the co-founder of TecnoAlgae (https://tecnoalgae.com/) honored with the “most sustainable startup” award at the event’s closing ceremony. This connection presents exciting prospects for potential collaboration and further amplification of CARINA’s objectives.

On March 12th, CARINA project partners Arvalis, SAIPOL, and TERRES INOVIA are coming together to host a Camelina Day in Boigneville, located south of Paris. This event promises to be a deep dive into the world of Camelina, covering technical challenges, trial insights, and the dynamics of the value chain.

One of the highlights of the day will be Nuseed’s presentation on B. carinata, adding a unique perspective to the discussions. With participants ranging from companies and farmers to students, researchers, and cooperatives, the event offers an excellent opportunity for collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Please note that the event will be conducted in French, ensuring seamless communication and engagement for all attendees.

In a significant stride toward enhancing knowledge in agricultural practices, the 4CE-MED project proudly presents its three latest scientific publications focusing on Camelina, a promising oilseed crop with multifaceted applications. These insightful publications are now accessible on ZENODO and the Library section of the project’s website (https://www.4cemed.eu/library/#research), offering a wealth of information to agricultural enthusiasts and professionals alike. Take a look at the abstracts of these scientific publications:

Mechanical Harvesting of Camelina: Work Productivity, Costs and Seed Loss Evaluation

Camelina is a low input crop than can be cultivated in rotation with cereals to provide vegetable oil suitable for bioenergy production, industrial applications and even as source of food for livestock. At large scale farming, camelina seeds are currently harvested using a combine harvester, equipped with a cereal header, but the literature still lacks the knowledge of the performance of the machine, the harvesting cost and the related loss of seeds. The present study aims to fulfill that gap by reporting the results obtained from an ad hoc harvest field test. Camelina seed yield was 0.95 Mg ha−1 which accounted for the 18.60% of the total above ground biomass. Theoretical field capacity, effective field capacity and field efficiency were 3.38 ha h−1, 3.17 ha h−1 and 93.7% respectively, albeit the seed loss was 80.1 kg ha−1 FM (7.82% w/w of the potential seed yield). The presence of material other than grain was rather high, 31.77% w/w, which implies a second step of cleaning to avoid undesired modification of the seed quality. Harvesting cost was estimated in 65.97 € ha−1. Our findings provide evidence on the suitability to use a conventional combine harvester equipped with a cereal header for the harvesting of camelina seeds, although some improvements are required to reduce both seed loss and impurities.

Assessing the Camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) Seed Harvesting Using a Combine Harvester: A Case-Study on the Assessment of Work Performance and Seed Loss

The growing demand in food and non-food industries for camelina oil is driving the interest of farmers and contractors in investing in such feedstock. Nonetheless, the cost, performance and critical aspects related to the harvesting stage are still not properly investigated. In the present study, an ad-hoc test was performed in Spain in order to fulfill this gap. The results support the hypothesis to harvest camelina seeds with the same combine harvester used for cereal harvesting without further investment. Theoretical field capacity (TFC), effective field capacity (EFC), material capacity (MC), and field efficiency (FE) were 4.34 ha h-1, 4.22 ha h-1, 4.66 Mg h-1 FM, and 97.24%, respectively. The harvesting cost was estimated in 48.51   ha􀀀1. Approximately, the seed loss of 0.057 0.028 Mg ha􀀀1 FM was due to the impact of the combine harvester header and dehiscence of pods, whilst 0.036 0.006 Mg ha-1 FM of seeds were lost due to inefficiency of the threshing system of the combine harvester. Adjustment of the working speed of the combine and the rotation speed of the reel may help to reduce such loss.

Effect of Swathing or Direct Combining on Yield, Seed Losses and Costs of Camelina

Camelina is an interesting crop and producers must adopt cultural practices to achieve the highest yield and oil content possible. Considering the size of the seed, the harvesting phase is crucial to reduce losses and maximize income. Furthermore, in recent years, with the worsening of climatic conditions due to global warming, crop management can no longer follow the classic seasonality but must adapt to new climatic conditions. The possibility of double cropping, that is the process of producing two crops in a single season, allows multiple advantages such as weed control, greater remuneration, and less exposure to bare soil which determine greater resilience of the production system. To enable this, especially in recent years, even a few days of difference in the cultivation phases can guarantee the success of double cropping. For these reasons, the authors compared two different harvesting strategies: direct combining at full maturity (DC); swathing + combining at full maturity (SW). The working performance, cost, and seed losses associated with each harvesting method were calculated. The results highlighted how SW reduced the crop cycle length by 11 days, did not influence seed losses and crop yield but showed lower performance and higher cost with respect to DC.

These publications cover a range of topics, offering comprehensive research findings that may align with your specific areas of interest. Whether you are an academic, researcher, or enthusiast, we encourage you to delve into this collection to stay abreast of the latest advancements in the field.

Brassica Working Group is established within ECPGR (Europeand Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources) with the aim to conserve ex situ and in situ Brassica plant genetic resources. The aim of EUBRASWILD project was to improve the knowledge of the presence, distribution and biodiversity status of the Brassica wild relatives in the Eastern and South-Eastern Europe as well as to fill the gaps of Brassicaceae wild relative populations in the EU genebanks and in AEGIS. Information on the status of national genebanks and national priorities related to Brassica crop wild relatives (CWRs) were collected during the project. All partners have completed on-site expeditions and collected new accessions of wild Brassicas. Field/greenhouse collection(s) of gathered CWRs populations were established and regenerated. Characterization and regeneration were affected by extreme weather conditions, which were caused by floods in Slovenia and severe drought in Serbia.

The final meeting of the EUBRASWILD project was attended by researchers from Albania, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. After the welcoming words and a summary of the entire project by the project leader and the ECPGR secretary, representatives from all institutions, project partners, presented their results in the form of presentations. Discussions focused on the challenges researchers faced during the collection of wild Brassica species and plant regeneration in the field. The meeting also addressed the need to input project results into the AEGIS and EURISCO databases. Following this, a two-day meeting of the Brassica working group within ECPGR took place, that was organized in person and online.

Discussions covered Brassica species currently in the AEGIS database and possibilities and limitations for improving this collection. ECPGR secretary, presented results on the characterization and evaluation of Brassica species accessions in the EURISCO database and provided current information on ECPGR Phase XI. Ferdinando Branca presented results from the BRESOV project (Horizon2020) relevant to the Brassica working group. Smiljana Goreta Ban introduced standards for the gene bank specific to Brassica species, the draft status, and future planned steps.

Participation in the EUBRASWILD project and Brassica working group meetings was significant for establishing new contacts with European and regional researchers and exchanging experiences on past project activities.

In a dynamic showcase of digital transformation in agriculture, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía, an entity affiliated to Spanish Co-ops in the CARINA, presented the project at a congress in the province of Cordoba on February 21st and 22nd.

Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía’s participation in the congress, themed around digitization in the agricultural sector, marked a significant stride towards advancing the integration of technology in farming practices. The event served as a network for agricultural stakeholders, attracting a diverse audience including SMEs and the general public.
With a dedicated stand, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía presented the innovative and sustainable dimensions of the CARINA project. Attendees could see the insights about how CARINA is contributing to transforming the agricultural sector towards a more technologically advanced and environmentally conscious future.

The congress provided a platform for fostering connections between the agricultural community and cutting-edge innovations. Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía’s engagement at the Cordoba congress reflects CARINA’s commitment to embracing technological advancements and spreading awareness about sustainable agricultural practices.

In a stride towards fostering agricultural innovation and sustainability, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía, an entity affiliated to Spanish Co-ops in the CARINA project, recently disseminated CARINA at the University of Seville’s open day on February 20th.
Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía presented the CARINA project at this event, providing students with insights into its visionary objectives and ambitions. The event facilitated meaningful discussions about the future of agriculture, emphasizing sustainability, innovation, project’s commitment to revolutionizing farming practices and the role of collaborative efforts.
Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucía’s participation in the open day cultivated awareness and interest among the next generation of agricultural leaders. By sharing the project’s goals, the team aims to inspire future farmers and innovators to embrace sustainable practices.